this post was submitted on 04 Mar 2026
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Baking

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Hello. Hobby Baker here. Recently me and my mother managed to perfect a Bread recipe with regular flour. Now we want to try to make the Whole Wheat variety. Subbing the flour in our bread gives us Bread that tastes fine, but barely rises. At all.

Any tips on how to make it rise would greatly appreciated.

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[–] southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 4 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Truth is that whole wheat just doesn't rise as much because it can't.

The whole part of whole wheat is bran. Wheat bran is sharp. Which r is not great for rise since those sharp little bits are poking holes in the bubbles that make bread rise. It's a pain in the ass.

Best solution I found for true whole wheat that didn't involve adding things in that would make it a blend instead was switching to a gentler kneading method and not working it beyond the bare minimum needed to get gluten going.

Check out King Arthur flour's website though, they have whole wheat recipes that work very well because they've been built around the reality of it from the begging beginning

[–] GriffinClaw@lemmy.zip 3 points 4 weeks ago

Got it. Thank you so much!

[–] exaybachae@startrek.website 3 points 4 weeks ago

Hey, if it works out, toss me an invite for grilled cheese and tomato soup. You supply the bread, I'll bring the cheese, soup, and the mayo.

[–] Hamartia@lemmy.world 3 points 4 weeks ago (2 children)

I think you need to figure out a white/wholewheat blend ratio that works for you. Try 20% wholewheat, 80% strong white flour. Then start increasing the wholewheat ratio until you don't like the result. Then go back to you favourite mix.

[–] GriffinClaw@lemmy.zip 3 points 4 weeks ago

Noted, thank you!

[–] Sugabooga@leminal.space 3 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

I agree with this! Also whole wheat is a little strange compared to normal flour. First of all it can handle more water, bumping up your hydration can help give you a less dense bread. I also like to doing a 100% hydration on my whole wheat flour and let it sit for at least an hour than mix that with my normal "white" flour mixture

[–] GriffinClaw@lemmy.zip 2 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

Ye. We definitely had to put in alot more water in our trials.

Thanks for the tips!

[–] Cris_Citrus@piefed.zip 2 points 4 weeks ago

Saw this on the all feed and I hope you get a helpful answer. I'm kinda curious how they differ myself

[–] FauxPseudo@lemmy.world 2 points 4 weeks ago

I made it. I'm joined.

I'm a cook, not a baker despite how much the people over at c/cooking might see me bake.

I have tried whole wheat and failed to get that rise. But at the same time whole wheat hasn't been a priority. Rye is higher on my list. But until I can find a source of rye locally in my food desert I can't even work on that

what kind of yeast do you use? instant or live?

i make whole wheat/rye/pumpernickel/seed loaves all the time but have only found success with sourdough. i got my starter from a friend but you can get from any local bakery if you ask.

the dark flours and whole wheat need alot of time to rise. usually on the dark flours i do a very long second rise (18-24 hr) in the fridge and that’s the only way i’ve gotten it to rise the same amount as a white bread flour loaf